1979 Warburtons Wheatbread

Warburtons is a British baking firm founded by Thomas Warburton in 1876 and based in Bolton, a town formerly in Lancashire that is now situated inGreater Manchester, England. For much of its history Warburtons only had bakeries in Lancashire and it remains a family-owned company.

The company embarked on a large expansion program in the late 1990s which continued in the 2000s and it has grown across the United Kingdom after being relatively unheard of outside the Bolton and Manchester area.The company has a 24% share of the UK bread market compared with 2% when it was based in Bolton. Warburtons is the most popular bread in Lancashire with a 45% market share compared with a 15% share in London.

The Warburtons brand is the most popular bread in the United Kingdom, ahead of rivals Kingsmill and Hovis, a position it has held since 2008. Overall, Warburtons products are the second-best selling food and drink brand in the UK after Coca Cola and ahead of famous British brands such as Cadburysand Walkers.